“What I said isn’t a curse, it’s a prophecy. Please, just think before you act. Some choices will affect you for the rest of your life.”

Wow. That’s scary.

I’m twenty-nine years old, and I’m still scared of punks like Song Yeo-reum. No wonder none of the other kids ever stood up to her. I can’t even blame them.

I secretly wiped my clammy hands on my skirt.

Tremble, tremble, tremble.

‘You really can’t underestimate the power of the atmosphere.’

They’re not gangsters, and they’re not chaebols. I know they’re just high school bullies, nothing more, but being trapped in this collective called ‘school’ makes you afraid.

I squeezed my trembling hands into fists and forced my chin up.

“You think these days will last forever, don’t you? In just one year, everyone will be too busy studying to pay any attention to you.”

By then, the atmosphere won’t be on your side, and you’ll get swept up in the current, wandering around academies and reading rooms until 2 a.m., trying to get into college.

But by the time you regret it, it’s already too late.

That college student who brazenly showed up at your graduation, held his head high, and laughed while smashing an egg on his pregnant young girlfriend’s belly, promising to take responsibility for you for the rest of your life?

He ran off to the military three months after the baby was born.

You raised that child all by yourself. You couldn’t even go to the university you worked so hard to get into.

Even though I cut off all contact with everyone, that news still reached me.

It’s a tragedy that I can’t spoil this for you.

“They say you shouldn’t even bother a dog while it’s eating, but you want to do this to a kid who just came from the nurse’s office this morning? Please, get a grip. You have about 400 days left until you star in ‘High School Moms’.”

I shut my mouth at that point because Song Yeo-reum’s expression was truly murderous.

“Wow…”

Song Yeo-reum, who had been looking at the ceiling, let out a hollow laugh and then looked at me.

“Hey, you’ve gone too far.”

With a sly smile, Song Yeo-reum raised her hand, and at that moment, Do-yeon stood up.

“Stop it.”

As if she had been waiting for it, Song Yeo-reum shoved Do-yeon’s shoulder.

“Stop what? You couldn’t say a single word with your mouth shut all this time, but now that you have one loser sticking up for you, you think you’re hot stuff?”

It’s like she has a sewer for a mouth…

Song Yeo-reum, who had spewed a string of curses, raised her hand again.

However.

“Hey. Seriously, stop it.”

This time, it was Seo Jae-gyeom who stepped in.

Seo Jae-gyeom, who had been sitting with his friends by the window, strode over. He stepped between me and Song Yeo-reum and forcibly pulled down her raised hand. His face was full of irritation and annoyance.

“Song Yeo-reum. I hate it when it’s noisy when I’m eating, you know?”

“Did I make it noisy? Kang Da-hye…!”

“Right. So be quiet.”

“No, Kang Da-hye was the one who did it!”

“I said, it’s noisy.”

“Ugh, damn it…”

“What.”

He didn’t seem to be taking anyone’s side or trying to stop a fight; he just genuinely looked annoyed.

At Seo Jae-gyeom’s utterly fed-up attitude, Song Yeo-reum could only mutter curses and didn’t dare to talk back.

Do-yeon, who had been watching the scene, sighed, picked up her barely-touched tray, and quickly left. I hurried after her.

“Hey, where are you two…!”

“Song Yeo-reum. I said, let’s have some quiet.”

“Seo Jae-gyeom, why are you suddenly butting in!”

“Because you’re noisy.”

Whether they were boys or girls, no one could stand up to Seo Jae-gyeom. I don’t know what got into him (it was probably just because it was noisy), but I was glad he had stepped in.

As I was leaving the cafeteria, I mouthed to Jisoo, whose eyes I met.

‘Sorry!’

I’ll buy you a chocolate milk later! For real!

Do-yeon and I ended up not at the wisteria bench on the side of the athletic field, but just on the stands.

Do-yeon, who had been heading for the bench, saw the groups of kids gathered there, changed direction, and sat down on the stands.

I, who had been following her hesitantly, quickly sat down next to her.

Without even looking at me, Do-yeon said, “You know what I hate most about eating alone?”

“What?”

“The other kids watching.”

“Ah.”

“It feels like I’m eating with a sign that says, ‘I’m being bullied, I have no friends.'”

“…”

“Why did you help me?”

You could have become a target like me if you had stepped in wrongly, why did you help me, Do-yeon looked at me.

I rolled my eyes.

“…Because it helps me too?”

I’m going to live a really unhappy life for the next 11 years, you know?

So I agonized over whether I had done something wrong to deserve this karma.

Wondering if I was paying the price for a sin I had committed.

And whenever I did, your name was always the first to come to mind.

I always regretted not taking your side.

Whether it was God or something else that turned back time, it must have been to tell me to live a good life…

“I’m not going to do things I’ll regret anymore.”

“What did you say?”

Do-yeon, who didn’t understand, frowned.

“It’s nothing. Um… there’s no grand reason. I just did it because it was the right thing to do.”

I looked at the face of Do-yeon, who would die in two months.

Despite everything that happened, I survived and turned twenty-nine, but your time is forever frozen at eighteen.

Because none of us had the courage.

If just one person had acted differently, everything might have changed.

“I’m sorry for taking your side so late.”

Even though I knew perfectly well what was right and what was wrong, I was too scared and looked away.

I’m sorry for ignoring your pain, I offered an apology that was far too late.

Do-yeon, who had been staring back at me, asked, “Why are you crying?”

“Just… sniff. Because I’m sorry.”

“Did you bully me? Why are you sorry?”

“All the kids probably feel sorry for you.”

“I don’t think so.”

Seeing me sniffling, Do-yeon took a tissue from her pocket and handed it to me. Thank you. I took the tissue, my voice stuffy.

So much for the dignity of a regressor. Crying my eyes out in front of someone 11 years younger than me.

“Not everyone thinks like you, Kang Da-hye. There are kids who have no connection to me whatsoever, but who still deliberately bump into me in the hallway. Ever since I became ‘that kind of girl’.”

“Sniff… What? Are you serious?”

“They see it as an opportunity. They didn’t like me to begin with, and now that the atmosphere is one where I’m being criticized, they join in.”

“Have you ever thought about reporting it as school violence? I mean… Song Yeo-reum and her friends.”

I remember hearing that your mother was a prosecutor, or maybe a judge. Someone in the legal profession, anyway.

It was a fact I had learned after Do-yeon’s death, when the police came to the school.

But Do-yeon shook her head.

“I don’t want to disappoint my parents.”

“They wouldn’t be disappointed by something like that.”

“I know. But I just don’t want to tell them. That their proud daughter can’t adjust at school. That while all the other kids are doing fine, she’s the only one who’s been cast out. How can I say that?”

“I understand.”

I’ve felt something similar before.

While everyone else passed, only Mom’s daughter failed again.

When you’re the only one who can’t do what everyone else is doing. At times like that, you really can’t bring yourself to say it.

“But Do-yeon, that’s not your fault.”

“…”

“You did nothing wrong. Not a single thing. You’re just an innocent victim.”

“…”

“You don’t have to thank me for taking your side today. I just did what was natural. You don’t have to be conscious of me, or force yourself to do things you don’t want to do because of me.”

“…For example?”

“Um… like if I asked to borrow your shoes, and you didn’t want to lend them to me… but you force yourself to because you’re afraid I won’t be your friend if you don’t?”

“You heard about that too.”

That I got criticized for refusing to lend someone my shoes. Do-yeon smiled. I, who had been crying, also smiled.

“No, I mean, you can ask to borrow them! But if you get rejected, you should accept it and back off. What kind of behavior is that?”

“That’s what I’m saying. It was so pathetic.”

“Even a real beggar like me is keeping quiet, so what’s her deal?”

I don’t usually ask to borrow things from people. Because if I borrow something and lose it, I don’t have the money to pay for it. As I spoke with a giggle, the March sunlight shone down on me and Do-yeon.

It was still chilly, but it was a ray of light that was sure to warm up soon.

“I hate the other kids watching more than I hate eating alone.”

“Still, you came down to eat every time without starving yourself. You’ve already won there.”

“Why would I starve myself? Who would that benefit?”

“You’re right!”

“I’m not dating the teacher.”

“Ah, of course not! Are you crazy! Why would you date an old man when you’re not lacking anything!”

“I have a lot of clothes. Let me know if you want to borrow some later.”

“It’s okay. I have a uniform too.”

“Do you wear your uniform even when you go out after school?”

“Yeah, I’ve basically had this uniform surgically attached to me.”

“Our uniform isn’t pretty, though.”

“Still, I paid for it, and I can only wear it for three years. I have to get my money’s worth.”

“Isn’t three years a long time?”

“I still use the bag I used in elementary school.”

“…When’s your birthday? I’ll buy you a bag as a birthday present.”

I’ll buy you two.

Do-yeon declared.

That was Woo Do-yeon’s way of saying thank you.

“Next period is math, right?”

“Yeah. We’re both in Class A, so we can just grab our books and go together.”

“Okay.”

“But Do-yeon, I think I might drop to Class C in the second semester…”

“What are you talking about? You’re first in the school.”

“For now, at least.”

As Do-yeon and I walked down the hallway, chatting comfortably, gazes rained down on us.

I ignored them and deliberately smiled even more brightly as I opened the door to the classroom for Class 1, where the math A class was held.

Creeak.

And I came face to face with Seo Jae-gyeom, who was perched on Jisoo’s desk, smiling down at her as she did her homework.